That Which Lies in the Dark

19

(TW- Talks about cannibalism, talks of intent to murder)

Remus walked back into the room, having helped Virgil with his injuries before putting him to bed since he was passed out, only to sigh hearing the faucet running in the bathroom. Roman stood there at the sink basin trying to wash the blood and marble out of his eyes.

"Here..." Roman froze up as Remus grabbed a cloth and dunked it in the water. "Let me help." Remus's eyes went white as they always did when he used magic, before gently whipping as much from his brother's face as he could, trying to heal him as he did. "Roman, what happened?" Remus tried to speak as calmly as he could seeing the stress and frustration in his twin. "You had set out to kill, so what happened?"

'It wasn't Virgil.' Roman responded telepathically making Remus falter. Roman always had problems with communication, resulting in more in looks and sounds than actual words to convey his thoughts. But every once in a while, Roman will just shut down resulting in the older only talking through their mental link. That's usually when Remus knows something is really wrong.

"Roman, please? What happened?" Roman growled as Remus brushed more of the blood away, trying not to damage his brother's eyes beyond repair. "I know it wasn't Virgil. That's what I was trying to tell you but..."

'I wasn't him.' Remus frowned seeing the way Roman was clutching his fists at his side. 'He didn't even try to run... It wasn't him and he just...'

"Roman?" Roman rubbed his arm trying to dispel the buzz still in his skin as Remus just sighed and decided to just not push it. "Why don't you tell me anything you can? Something other than that it wasn't Virgil?" Roman simply growled again as Remus rinsed the cloth. "I need to clean out your eyes before I can heal them so you might as well have something to keep you busy."

"I was going to kill, Virgil." Remus nodded as he tried to focus on what he was doing instead of the shake in his brother's voice. "It was out of the way of people so... I was going to kill him to just get it over with..."

"But the scorned ghoul-..."

'Draugr.' Remus clammed up as Roman growled lowly. 'It was a draugr... I refuse to call them a ghoul.'

"Roman? What's gotten into you?" Remus went to wipe Roman's face again only for Roman to growl and push him away, storming out of the bathroom with a huff. "Roman."

"It was going to eat Virgil, Remus." Remus's eyes darkened as Roman sat on the bed all balled up and trembling with rage. "It wasn't just some scorned Ghoul. It was already insatiable to the point of cannibalism. It was already turning into a draugr."

"Then it's a good thing you killed it. Even a single draugr let loose in a city, even one this size, would be catastrophic." Roman growled, curling up more, making Remus frown. "Roman... you found the monster and you killed it. Why are you..."

"I was wrong." Remus's face fell as Roman whispered so quietly. "I felt the malice and assumed it was Virgil. I was wrong. Had I killed Virgil, not only would I have broken a promise, I would left something so dangerous live long enough to cause serious harm."

"But you didn't... and you stopped it... and Virgil is safe."

"I couldn't give a shit about Virgil." Remus just rolled his eyes as Roman growled his words out. "I almost broke a promise, Remus. I swore to you that I would not harm or kill Virgil so long as there is no reason to. There was no reason to and yet I nearly did it regardless. THAT'S what I care about."

"And as I said... You didn't. He's alive and safe because you protected him." Roman jerked subtly at that as Remus just smiled as he tilted Roman's head back so he could look at his injuries a little better. It was better to just do it all now that Roman was starting to calm down. "You protected him from this... draugr-to-be, and brought him back safe." Remus placed his hand over Roman's eyes, letting his black magic seep around them and cover everything. "You didn't have to do that. That was not part of the promise."

"Mother..." Remus hesitated as he pulled his hand back revealing Roman's eyes now fully healed and a bright scarlet from all his emotions. "Mother Moon... I... I could feel her. This buzz in my skin." Remus deflated seeing the tears building in his twin's eyes. "She wanted me to protect him. That's why I did it. She asked me to keep Virgil safe." Roman's eyes narrowed as he finally met with Remus's eyes. "After all, I've done... why would she ask that of me?"

"Probably for the same reason that you did it." Roman's eyes were dull as Remus wrapped his arm around him and pulled him closer. "It doesn't matter what you've done or will continue to do. You know just as well as I do that if the moon truly asked you of something... you would drop everything for her. If there is one thing that you will never be... it's scorned."

"Monsters deserve to be hunted, Remus. Beasts and monsters that tear families apart and drown cities in blood... they all deserve to die." Remus nodded not bothering to say Roman was wrong, as the statement itself was clearly true. "Monsters all deserve to die."

"I agree. Monsters do deserve to die. However, Roman... Is all who follows the moon a monster?" Remus nudged lightly making Roman's eyes narrow into a glare.

"Don't use the moon against me."

"I'm not. I'm giving you something to think about." Remus chuckled before repeating his question. "Is all who follow the moon monsters? Could you say that as fact... even knowing that you yourself follow the moon? What about the scorned? They don't follow the moon. Yet, they are clearly monsters."

"All monsters deserve to die, Remus." Remus nodded before giving Roman a pointed look.

"But do you know who the monsters are?"

"I'm done with this." Roman's voice was monotone but firm making it clear Remus wasn't going to be able to push him anymore that night. "We need to figure out what we're doing now."

"Well... My best guess..." Remus laughed as he elbowed Roman playfully. "We need to figure out where the demons are hiding."